معرفی
Dr. Xuan Li is a British Heart Foundation (BHF) Senior Basic Science Research Fellow and Principal Investigator in Cardiovascular Health at the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Heart & Lung Research Institute, University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on microtubule dysfunction in inflammatory cardiovascular diseases, particularly investigating how microtubule regulation impacts inflammasome activation and cardiomyocyte contractility in heart failure and atherosclerosis.
Her academic journey includes medical training in China, a CRUK-funded PhD in biochemistry at the University of Birmingham, postdoctoral research in microtubule cell biology as an MRC Career Development Fellow at the MRC-LMB Cambridge, and specialized cardiovascular medicine training at the University of Cambridge. She established her independent research group at Cambridge, pioneering multidisciplinary approaches to study microtubule function in cardiovascular cells.
Dr. Li's research program centers on the role of microtubule-regulating kinases (particularly MARK4) in cardiovascular pathologies. Her group employs advanced methodologies including cardiovascular disease models (atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy), primary cell culture of cardiomyocytes and immune cells, single-cell physiology using IonOptix systems, and cutting-edge microscopy techniques. Key discoveries include the identification of MARK4 as a critical regulator of inflammasome activation in atherosclerosis and microtubule detyrosination in ischemic heart failure.
Her publication record demonstrates consistent focus on microtubule-cytoskeleton interactions in cardiovascular inflammation, with recent high-impact papers in Nature, Nature Communications, and Circulation Research revealing novel therapeutic targets for heart disease treatment through microtubule modulation.
Scientific recognition includes:
- British Heart Foundation Senior Basic Science Research Fellowship
- MRC Career Development Fellowship
- Cancer Research UK PhD Studentship
Dr. Li's group currently pursues four major research thrusts: elucidating microtubule dysfunction mechanisms in cardiovascular disease development, dissecting inflammation-microtubule interplay in pathogenesis, establishing human cardiomyocyte culture systems for microtubule studies, and translating basic findings into diagnostic and therapeutic applications for cardiovascular diseases. Her work bridges fundamental cell biology with clinical cardiology to develop innovative treatments targeting the microtubule cytoskeleton.
